


Monsters of Men

by takadainmate, youngavengersbigbang



Category: Young Avengers
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-10-22
Updated: 2013-10-22
Packaged: 2017-12-30 04:11:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,873
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1013944
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/takadainmate/pseuds/takadainmate, https://archiveofourown.org/users/youngavengersbigbang/pseuds/youngavengersbigbang
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Get up," he said, and his voice sounded muffled and distant and for a long time Teddy stared at him, trying to work out what he meant. They had nowhere to go. There was no point in going anywhere. They were alone here and no one was going to save them. No one <i>could</i> save them.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Monsters of Men

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Chaotic Duo](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=Chaotic+Duo).



> **Warnings/Triggers:** Violence, language
> 
> **Notes:** Thanks go to my artist for such an inspiring image. I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it.

 

Strung between worlds, Teddy always found himself thinking of his mother. She may not have given birth to him but she was all Teddy had ever known and he missed her every time he remembered she wasn’t there any more. It hurt, and in that long instant between one world and the next Teddy hated inter-dimensional travel. 

He would have laughed at himself three, maybe four years ago. He would have looked at his older self and said something obnoxious like, "How can you hate this? It’s so _cool_." 

Except it wasn’t in all the ways that mattered, like how it pulled at every inch of skin, scraping and scouring leaving Teddy aching and exhausted. How all Teddy could ever think of was everything that had ever gone wrong in his life. He hated how he couldn’t see, couldn’t be sure that Billy was there and safe and one day, Teddy always told himself, he would ask if Billy felt the same when they moved between worlds. If he felt laid bare and stripped apart too. If he worried that when they were spat out into the next dimension they’d all arrive safely and intact and not –

 

*

– like this. 

Teddy could tell, as soon as he had sense enough to think, that something was wrong. That everything was wrong. 

It was too quiet. He was lying on his back. The air smelled of decay, sickly sweet rot and the metal tang of blood. Teddy was almost afraid to open his eyes but, _Billy_ , he thought. 

It shouldn’t have been this hard. It had never been this hard before, but it took all Teddy’s conviction, all his desperate worry, to blink open his eyes and focus on this new world. 

High above him Teddy could make out the sprawling tangle of tree branches, gnarled and half-dead looking, dull greys and greens unlike anything Teddy had ever seen on their Earth. The canopy blocked out whatever sun there might have been, little enough light that Teddy had to squint to try and make out anything around him. 

To his left lay Loki, unmoving, his limbs sprawled out like he’d been thrown to the ground. And just beyond him lay Billy. 

"Shit." 

Even though it hurt, his muscles cramping, his stomach turning, Teddy scrambled on his hands and knees over to Billy. His skin was cold when Teddy touched his face, his neck, took Billy’s hand in his own.

"Billy, wake up." Teddy shook Billy’s shoulder, patted him down as gently as he could in case he was hurt anywhere but found nothing. Placing his hand on Billy’s chest Teddy was relieved to feel the steady rise and fall of breathing, but there wasn’t the familiar relaxed expression of sleep on Billy’s face. Instead, his eyebrows were drawn together, his mouth unhappy; he looked in pain, Teddy thought. This was not the time to panic though. This was not the time to freak out that his boyfriend was passed out and not waking up and Teddy had no idea what could’ve happened to him between dimensions or what to do. He wasn’t a magician. All he knew was the physical world, and how to fit himself into it. Punching his way through it if he had to. Billy wasn’t like that though. Billy was not waking up.

And the others were missing, Teddy realized, looking around. As far as Teddy could see, the rest of the team wasn’t anywhere nearby. He tried calling their names. There was no reply.

They could have been unconscious too, Teddy guessed, but then why weren’t there _here_. It was just him and Billy and Loki. 

The whole team had been together when they’d gone through Miss America’s portal, and now it was just the three of them and where the hell had everyone gone?

There was Loki. Loki would know what to do.

Teddy laid Billy gently back down onto the ground. At least it was a soft surface, even if it didn’t smell exactly pleasant. Teddy didn’t want to look too closely at what made up the soft forest floor, and how it left the palms of his hands, his fingers, streaked with black as he crawled his way over to Loki. 

"Loki," he tried calling. "Come on, man." 

Teddy was certain Loki twitched at his name. 

"Loki," he called again, hopeful, relieved, trying his best to ignore the creeping panic at the back of his mind. 

But then Loki made a miserable sound, his fingers curling, and by the time Teddy was at his side Loki was blinking, shifting onto his back, looking up at the canopy of trees with a weirdly distant expression that Teddy didn’t like at all. 

"Wake up," Teddy demanded. "We’ve got some serious problems here." 

Creepily slowly, Loki’s turned his face to meet Teddy’s, his eyes focusing lazily, like they couldn’t quite remember how. 

"We always have problems," he said, but his voice didn’t hold anywhere near the confidence, the bite it usually did. 

"Yeah. No. Billy won’t wake up. The others aren’t here." 

"Here," Loki repeated, then frowned in distaste. "I don’t like it here." 

"Me either," Teddy agreed, and told himself, _Not freaking out, not freaking out_.

Suddenly, a scream pierced the air. It was like nothing Teddy had ever heard before; high-pitched, but he couldn’t tell if it had come from a man or a woman; echoing unnaturally through trees all around them the way screams did in horror movies. It went on, and on, and on without drawing breath and Loki winced at the sound, moving his hands up to cover his ears. It might have come from somewhere close, or from miles away; Teddy had no clue. 

He desperately wished Kate was there. She’d know what to do. But all he had was Loki. 

Glancing back, still lying prone on the ground, Billy was drawing in on himself; hands to his chest and knees pulled up, but when Teddy reached him his eyes were still firmly closed. Still unresponsive.

"We have to make it stop." 

Teddy had to shout to make himself heard over the screeching. The sound grated on his teeth, made him want to claw at his ears. It was hurting Billy, Teddy was sure of it. 

He’d seen Billy when he was happy and when he was pissed and when he was in pain and Teddy knew what to look for, how to read him. He knew Billy better than he’d ever known anyone in his life and sometimes that freaked Teddy out, and sometimes it made him glad he had Billy. Then there were times when there was nothing Teddy could do anything to _change_ how Billy felt, to make it better, and those were the worst. 

There was a thudding, like Teddy’s heart was pounding in his ears, and suddenly there were voices filling his head, speaking in a language that was all long, drawn out sounds that Teddy had never heard before. The voices grew louder and louder and louder until it felt like they were going to split his head open. Teddy reached for Billy, hoping he couldn’t hear this too, groping around until his hand met soft shoulder, pulled Billy towards him, crouched over him. 

_Too cold_ , was all Teddy could think. _He’s too cold_. So he wrapped his arms more tightly around Billy, pressed his face to Billy’s neck, wishing the screaming would just –

*  
– stop. 

Sudden silence and Teddy sat, stunned and blinking, his ears ringing. His face was wet; he’d been crying. Teddy would swear the world around him, trees and trees and trees, had turned greyer, colder than they’d been before. Branches reached down towards them, closer, almost within reach now, like gnarled grasping fingers.

Loki, he noticed, was pulling at his arm. 

"Get up," he said, and his voice sounded muffled and distant and for a long time Teddy stared at him, trying to work out what he meant. They had nowhere to go. There was no point in going anywhere. They were alone here and no one was going to save them. No one _could_ save them.

Billy was heavy in his arms, still unmoving; his face too pale. He’d been crying too and worse, bright red blood stained his ears and his nose. Carefully, gently, Teddy tried to wipe it away with the cuff of his sleeve, saying, "It’ll be okay, Billy. We’ll be okay." 

"We won’t be okay if we stay here much longer," Loki insisted, and Teddy realized he’d forgotten Loki was there. He’d never seen him so nervous, Loki’s eyes darting all around them.

"What are you looking for?" 

"Bad people. We have to go." 

There was blood on Loki’s face too, from his nose, and Teddy didn’t think he’d ever seen him actually _hurt_ before. It was kind of disconcerting. 

"Go where?" Teddy asked.

"Just. Look, don’t make me argue with you. You’re too simple-minded. It wouldn’t be very sporting." 

Teddy thought he should probably be offended by that.

"If we stay here," Loki paused and pursed his lips and leaned in closer to Teddy. "If we stay here your Billy is going to _die_." 

"You’re lying." 

Billy was still breathing. He was warming up where Teddy was holding him. He was going to be fine even if they were semi-doomed. It was weird, but Teddy couldn’t remember ever being so pessimistic before. 

Loki rolled his eyes. "Well I’ve never been accused of _that_ before." He stood up straight. "Fine. Stay here. Whatever. I’m running away." 

Teddy watched as Loki took three steps away from them before swaying badly, putting his hand to his forehead and coming to a stop, muttering under his breath.

Before they’d been superheroes, back when Billy could only make his magic work about one time out of twenty and Teddy still had a mom and a home, he and Billy had spent several weeks compiling Asgardian insults and curses for a website they’d made. It was kind of the first thing they’d ever done together and it was stupid but it’d been fun. Back then Billy had smiled a lot more, had laughed without the weight, the realization, of what he could do. It had been then, typing in _Your mother lies with the corpses of trolls_ , that Teddy realized he was maybe a little in love with Billy. 

The point- the point was that now, Teddy recognized a lot of what Loki was muttering irritably. Teddy didn’t think he’d ever seen Loki so angry before either.

When he’d imagined Loki: Great and Powerful Enemy of the Avengers in those years before Teddy had learned that Heroes were just as messed up and kind of as clueless as everyone else, he would never have guessed that one day he’d be on the same team as him, let alone watching him struggle to stand, cursing and hissing in what sounded a lot like pain.

"Are you- are you okay?" Teddy offered, and felt about five inches tall and a complete imbecile when Loki turned and glowered at him. It was weird, but there was never any malice in how Loki looked at them, in the way he talked to them. Sarcasm, all the damn time, and a teasing kind of condescension, but Loki had never said anything to made Teddy think he actually looked down on them, considered them as useless or dispensable or anything like that. Which was more respect than most of the Heroes they’d ever met had given them. 

But this was Loki, and there was no way to be sure anything he did was as honest or innocent as it seemed. 

"We’re going," Loki said and stumbled back towards them. He put a hand on Billy’s forehead and then –

*

– they were running. They’d been sitting and now they were running and Teddy couldn’t remember the part in between, but there was definite chasing happening. Behind them, Teddy could hear shouting, angry, in that same guttural language he didn’t recognize. There was the thundering sound of hooves, what Teddy would have guessed were horses on the world he knew but could be just about anything in this unknown dimension or planet or time or whatever. They were powerful, fast, and whatever it was Teddy was certain they couldn’t outrun them. 

His legs ached. They must have been running for a long time. Billy was beside him, his arm around Teddy’s neck and Teddy’s arm wrapped around Billy’s waist. He was heavy against Teddy, but he was up and moving and that was an improvement to the last time he remembered seeing Billy. But his face was still a sickly pale and his movements were achingly stilted. 

"Billy," Teddy said, and Billy turned to look at him and smiled and it was so completely awesome that Teddy almost tripped over his own feet.

Whatever the fuck was happening here or how they’d gotten here could wait. They had to get to safety and they weren’t moving fast enough. Teddy could make out Loki ahead of them, the green of his tunic standing out against the black-grey trees. Behind them the shouting, the sound of maybe-horses was getting closer. He didn’t dare look. 

"Billy," Teddy said. "Can you- I mean, I know this sucks." He sucked in a breath. His arms and legs were too heavy, like he'd only just woken up. Which he kind of had. "Shit. Can you, you know, magic them or something?" 

The confused look on Billy's face scared the crap out of Teddy. 

"Are you- I know you're not okay but- are you okay?" 

That made no sense. Teddy knew that, but Billy had always understood him before. Since that first time they'd met and Teddy was trying not to be too obvious about maybe kind of liking Billy, he’d always been able to understand what Teddy was trying to say even when he couldn't actually get the words to come out of his mouth.

And Billy nodded. "I'm just. I don't know. There's something in my head." 

Teddy felt his eyes go wide. They were running away from something probably horrible and murderous and there was no time to worry about anything else but Teddy couldn't help the cold feeling in his stomach. Dread. Teddy had been doing the hero thing long enough to recognize the taste of it. 

"In your-" 

"Not like trying to control me or anything," Billy assured him, and cut Teddy off when he opened his mouth to reply, "And yeah I know that's exactly what I'd say if I was being mind controlled." 

Against Teddy's side, Billy sagged even more heavily as though just talking had worn him out, and Teddy had to hitch him up higher, his arm tightening around Billy's waist. Billy looked down at the ground, his eyes red. "But I promise I'm not. Being mind controlled. Or something." 

Up ahead, Loki called back, "If you don't stop _chatting_ and start making a meaningful attempt at running away from the crazy people _we are all going to die_." 

There were never two words where seventy would do with Loki.

It was weird too, Teddy thought, that Loki was still with them. He could have gotten a lot further ahead, could have hidden, but here he was sticking with them, coming back and putting his shoulder under Billy’s other side, getting him moving faster. 

In a low voice he said, "You know exactly what’s going on inside that rather dull brain of yours, Billy. I’m surprised you’re still sane. Don’t think about it." 

" What-" Teddy started.

" Not now," Loki hissed. "Run now before they –" 

*

"– catch us and haul us brutally off to their unhygienic, cold, draughty rustic village." Loki paused, looked consideringly around the interior of the- Teddy could only think to call it- shack they’d been thrown in to. "Actually, it reminds me of home." 

"Not helping," Teddy said. 

Even if Loki was right about the cold and the draught and the floor he was sitting on definitely did not look anything like the linoleum of the apartment he’d grown up in, mopped almost every other day by his mom. _Clean enough to eat your dinner off of_ , she’d always said. Teddy didn’t much like even sitting on this floor, let alone eating off of it.

There was an old-fashioned lamp in the corner of the room by Loki that threw out orange light, casting long shadows that spanned from the floor all the way to the ceiling. 

There was nothing they could’ve done. Teddy was sure. No way would he have let anyone grab at Billy the way those assholes had if he’d been able to prevent it. He’d fought to get to Billy, to shield him, and now Teddy had the aches and the bruises to prove it. Their kidnappers had subdued him with heavy clubs and fists and feet. There’d been too many and they had Billy at knifepoint and Loki hadn’t done a damn thing.

Teddy wasn’t certain he’d be able to stand if he tried. He just had to wait; he’d heal and then he was going to put his fist through the faces of every single bastard who’d dared to touch Billy.

Now, Loki was walking the limits of their prison, prodding at the walls and humming thoughtfully and Billy sat beside him on the not-even-close-to-being-linoleum floor, head resting against Teddy’s shoulder. His eyes were distant and unfocused.

Loki had stuck with them, but Teddy wasn’t stupid enough to believe it was for anyone other than Loki’s benefit. He just couldn’t see how, and that put Teddy on edge. 

"I thought you were supposed to be _good_ at not getting caught," he said.

Loki scoffed. "When I don’t have two stumbling proto-heroes tagging along, certainly." 

"Then why did you stay with us?" Teddy challenged. Even with his back turned, Teddy noticed the way Loki tensed and yeah, there it was. Something was definitely up.

"How mean." Loki was trying for light, teasing, but it came out with an edge of annoyance, too sharp. "After all this time fighting together, being _heroes_ together, you think I’d leave you behind." 

"Yeah," Teddy said. "I do." 

Loki shot Teddy a wry grin, like he was happy Teddy was arguing with him. He was so messed up. 

Outside, there were raised voices, a steady hammering of nail into wood, the thudding of heavy boots against earth. Something was going on and Teddy wasn’t sure he wanted to know what. 

When they’d been taken, Loki hadn’t struggled against his captors but they’d beaten on him anyway until he’d curled up on the ground with his hands over his head. There was mud on his face, the bright red marks of fists that would become bruises. If he’d wanted to, Loki could have avoided it all.

"Why did you stay?" Teddy asked again, and this time Loki’s grin faded. His shoulders slumped and he ungraciously sank to the floor, leaned back against the shack wall and pulled his legs in against his chest. He looked tired, Teddy thought. Worn. Now he looked more closely Teddy noticed Loki had a similar distracted, unfocused look to Billy. Not encouraging at all. 

Back in the forest, when they’d woken up, both Billy and Loki had been bleeding, but not Teddy. 

"I can’t," Loki said. After a long pause he added, "But I would have stayed with you anyway. Probably. Maybe." 

Teddy gripped Billy’s arm tighter. "What happened?" 

It was Billy who answered, "I can see in his head." 

Teddy sat, staring at Billy, trying to work out what he meant; whose head? What did that even mean? 

Across the room Loki was looking right at Billy, and Billy was looking right back. 

_Shit_.

Earlier, when they'd been running, Loki had said, _I’m surprised you’re still sane_.

"Jesus. Billy," Teddy started, and had no clue what to say next.

"It's not that terrible," Loki scowled. "There's just- a lot." 

"It makes no sense, mostly. His thoughts are all jumbled up. I swear, there's not a single straightforward thought at all. It's like- spaghetti." Billy rubbed his forehead. "It's confusing." 

"Spaghetti," Loki repeated. "No wonder _your_ head is like an empty, disused banqueting hall. Cobwebs. All I see are cobwebs." 

"I don't like spiders," Billy said vaguely. 

"I _know_." Loki turned to Teddy. "And the things he thinks about _you_ -" 

"Shut up, Loki," Billy interrupted. "I mean," he said to Teddy. "It's nothing I wouldn't say to you. Just- _he_ shouldn't say it." 

It was too weird, Teddy thought. It was disturbing; the thought of someone else seeing what you were thinking. 

"It's okay. I get it." And he did, because he _knew_ Billy. Because he trusted him. But Billy was still looking kind of uncertain, and maybe a little afraid, the way he got sometimes when he wasn't sure if someone was really telling him the truth. It hurt Teddy that Billy still got like that with him sometimes, that he couldn't just accept him at his word. But then, Billy had been bullied for a long time. One day, Teddy had decided, one day Billy wouldn't look at him like that anymore.

So to prove his point he did the one thing Teddy knew Billy would believe; he leaned in, gently pressing their lips together. Billy's lips were dry, cracked, but Teddy guessed his weren't much better. It was good, like it always was, even in this cold, dark place. It was reassurance and warmth and affection. 

And then Loki said, "Will you _stop_. Ugh. Gross. I can _feel_ that." 

They jerked apart, Billy putting his hand to his mouth and Teddy looking at Loki with wide eyes.

"You can- feel everything?" 

"It’s like you’re," Loki waved a hand right in front of his face, "there, but yes, yes, I can. Thank you. Please don’t do that again. _Ugh_." 

"Right. Fine. But." Teddy took Billy’s hands. "I’m not letting go." 

Even as Billy dipped his head, Teddy could see the smile on his face.

"Deal. Handholding I can endure. Graphic images of you two having sweaty, enthusiastic sex I cannot." 

As pale as he was, Billy still managed to flush red. "Will you _shut up_." 

Teddy coughed, nudged at Billy’s side and grinned because, seriously, like Teddy was going to mind Billy thinking about _that_ when they kissed. 

Billy grinned right back.

Over the other side of the room Loki groaned. "Hel and unicorns. Could we concentrate on an expedient escape? Before we discover the ultimate and undoubtedly unpleasant and painful outcome of our capture." 

It really was hard to look away from Billy but, yeah, fair point. The ache of bruises, the sharp pain that might have been broken bones had receded now to a point where Teddy could probably ignore it. 

Beside him, Billy squeezed Teddy’s hand and Teddy squeezed back.

"I can break us out of here," Teddy said. He could, and he would.

There were still a tonne of unanswered questions, and who knew what having Loki in his head might do to Billy, but there was nothing Teddy could do about any of that. He had to concentrate on what he _could_ do. 

Loki scowled at the door. "And what about the entire population of this entire village, or town or whatever this place is, waiting for us outside?" For all that the structure was a shack, it was still impossible to see out at all; there were no cracks; no windows. "Who are doing ominous-sounding things will manual tools." 

"I’ll fly us out," Teddy said. He shifted Billy carefully off his shoulder, propping him up against the wall so that Teddy could stand. 

"Through the roof?" Loki asked, obviously unconvinced. 

"It’s only wood," Teddy shrugged. He’d forced his way through a lot tougher.

"Wood that has been _warded_ against magic. It’s bad enough just sitting here with it," Loki gestured towards the whole space, "everywhere. You’ll kill your boyfriend." 

Teddy rounded on Billy. 

"And you weren’t going to tell me this?" 

"I didn’t realize that’s what it was." Billy dropped his chin to his chest. "I thought everything just sucked, you know?" 

"Billy," Teddy said, and Loki sighed dramatically, as though his patience was being horribly tried. Teddy ignored him, waited until Billy was looking at him again so he’d understand. "I will get us out of here. I promise. I’ll think of a way to do –" 

*

"It was a lie." 

Loki’s voice. 

"Your promise," he clarified. "They’re the easiest lies. Catches people out all the time." 

Teddy’s head hurt. His back hurt. His _ears_ hurt. He didn’t want to open his eyes.

"A lot of the time, people don’t even realize they’re lies. Like, they say, _oh I’ll do this one thing, of course. I’ll stay with you_ , or, _I’ll look after you. Make sure all those nasty compatriots of ours with long-held grudges and even longer knives won’t carve your face off_. And then the next thing you know you’re on your own and no one ever says, _you lied, you know_. And _I_ can’t say that for obvious and, I think, somewhat unfounded reasons. At the time." 

"Loki?" Teddy said.

"Yes. You’re awake then. Good. I wasn’t certain. I can’t find the lamp." 

"What-" 

Teddy was sure he’d opened his eyes, but there was just a whole lot of blackness. Nothing. He blinked. Still nothing.

"I can’t see anything." 

"Of course you can’t," Loki tisked. "There’s no light. No lamp. _Someone_ knocked it over in the fight." 

That made sense at least. But-

"Billy," Teddy called, and struggled to sit up. He was sick of being beaten up by these assholes and he remembered- he remembered now- they’d come for Billy and Teddy had fought and this time even Loki had scratched and bitten at the men who were trying to drag Billy away. Beyond the open door it was sunset, the sun hung low and burning red. There was a crowd outside watching with narrowed eyes, faces set and grim and filled with hate.

There’d been too many of them and Loki was right. Teddy had lied. He’d struggled as men twice Billy’s size wrapped thick rope around Billy’s neck and pulled tight enough that Teddy could hear choked, strained breathing. Then, he’d taken every form he knew how to, trying everything he could think of, but nothing worked.

The men had spat words that sounded like curses and insults and they’d thrown cold water over Teddy’s back and battered him with their clubs and he’d failed Billy _again_. 

"Not here," Loki said, and Teddy went cold. "He’s alive," Loki added. He felt a small hand find his shoulder. "But," and here Loki paused, like he was uncertain.

"But?" Teddy prompted.

"We need to hurry." 

"Why?" 

Outside, Teddy could hear people shouting and laughing and cheering; more than there'd been before. It was loud. He couldn't hear Billy. He needed to know what was happening out there.

"Does it matter? We need to _get out of here_." Loki did not sound happy, and Teddy had been hanging out with him long enough to hear the impatience and maybe a hint of fear in his tone. 

Every muscle in Teddy's body felt pulled, stretched, his head still aching. There was liquid sliding, warm and wet, down the side of his face and Teddy was going to pretend it wasn't blood. He needed to pull himself together. He needed a second to sit and think and work out what they were going to do, even when every inch of him wanted to smash through the door and grab Billy and get the hell out of here. He needed wings, and didn't have the strength to shift them into creation. 

"Tell me _why_ , Loki," Teddy demanded.

Loki was silent for a long moment and it was weird how quiet it was in the room when outside it was so loud. 

"I feel- Billy feels- odd. I don't understand it and his mind if not making any sense. I blame the panic and blind terror. It's disconcerting. I don't want to find out what he's terrified about." 

To hell with a plan, then.

Teddy got his feet under him, pushed himself to standing and had to stop, swaying, waiting for his head to quit spinning. 

"Yes," Loki said. "Yes. Let's get out of here. These clueless imbeciles seem to believe your strength originates from magic too, but their wards won't affect you." 

"You asked me before what I was going to be about the village mob," Teddy pointed out.

"That was when we had your hapless boyfriend in here with us." 

"These wards won't kill you?" 

Loki snorted derisively. "As if they could. I'm more concerned with-" 

Loki's voice cut out in a half swallowed gasp of pain. 

"Oh," he said, voice strained, and Teddy thought he could hear the grinding of Loki's teeth even over the noise coming from outside. "Oh wonderful." 

A deafening roar erupted outside and this time Loki did cry out and it was a horrible sound; agony so bad Loki didn’t sound like he could breathe and oh god, _that was Billy_. 

Teddy used every scrap of strength and willpower he had to shift himself into the most powerful form he could think of, to form wings on his back that would carry them all. 

It was easy to pinpoint Loki, to find his shoulders that shook under Teddy’s hands as he helped him up. Even through the fabric of his tunic Teddy could feel heat radiating from Loki like he was feverish. _Crazy_ feverish. 

Somehow, Loki managed to speak, his voice rough, little more than a whisper, "They’re going to –" 

*

"Burn him! Burn the witch!" 

Teddy had been certain, up until this point, that no one actually ever said those words in real life. 

And what he saw- this was going to give him nightmares forever and Billy- Billy was _screaming_.

The smell of smoke filled the air, the burning wood hissing and popping. Yellow firelight spilled out over the crowds, shadows twisting their faces into ghoulish figures and Teddy thought, _This is what their real faces look like_. It made it easy to force his way through the crowd; made him not care how hard he shoved them away; made him not care when he heard the snap and crunch of bone as his fist met someone’s- some monster’s- face. Because they had tied Billy to a post and set a fire under him and beneath the stench of smoke there was the sickening smell of burning flesh. 

The crowd pressed in around Teddy, grasping for him and it was like before, when they'd taken Billy, and this time Teddy was not going down. This time he had wings and he stretched them, ignoring the hands that clawed at the thin bones and skin, that tried to cut and smash. 

Billy called Teddy's name. Not called, _cried_. 

Teddy launched himself into the air, ripping free of the mob. He headed straight for Billy and it was even worse when he saw Billy's face, stained with soot and tears and tilted up to the sky because he was choking as well as burning. The material of his pants was on fire, and Billy was repeating over and over, "I won't burn, I won't burn, I won't burn;" a spell that wasn’t working. 

The fire was almost too ferocious for Teddy to get close enough. There was a sizzling sensation across his wings, heat like sunburn across his cheeks as he fought his way over, around, through flames and heat. 

"I'm here, Billy," he tried to call, but his throat was too dry and there was no way Billy could ever have heard him over the yelling and howling of the crowd. Billy's eyes were tightly shut. No way he could see that Teddy was coming for him.

The rope was still bound around Billy's throat, binding him to the stake, hands tied tightly enough that Teddy could see blood staining Billy's fingers. 

He didn't think about; didn't consider whether he _could_ do it, just got as close to Billy as he could bear, his beating wings fanning the flames around them, and reached out. It was only rope, easy to tear away, but he had to be careful not to hurt Billy any more than he’d already been. It felt like it took forever to break apart the knots, to snap the bindings away. As soon as Billy was free he slumped forward bonelessly. 

For a second Teddy was afraid Billy would fall face-first into the fire. For a second he was afraid he was too late and Billy was already dead. But as he caught Billy in his arms, patting out the fire burning his boots, lifted him away and held him close against his chest, Teddy put a hand to Billy’s neck and he could feel a heartbeat, still strong. Fast. He could see Billy’s breath in the cold night air as they rose above the heat.

The thought crossed Teddy’s mind to run, to fly away now, just the two of them. Because now he was carrying Billy’s weight, now with Billy safe, the damage he’d taken was beginning to creep up on him. 

But even as he dreaded it, Teddy knew he had to go back for Loki. The incensed crowd would tear him to pieces and they were a team. And Teddy would not leave anyone to that mob. 

He turned back towards the fire, tucking Billy under one arm and forcing himself not to completely lose it over the fact that Billy was a dead weight, limp and insensate. Maybe it was a good thing right now, because Teddy didn’t dare to even look down at Billy’s feet and legs.

It was easy to find Loki. The mob had surrounded him; maybe a hundred people, mostly men, armed and out for blood. Loki was holding them off with some kind of shield, crouched on the ground, teeth gritted together. The shield shimmered green, sparked; weakening. 

Teddy had to do something, fast. 

Pulling his wings back, he called, "Loki!" and in that instant Loki’s shield collapsed; he looked up, the expression on his faced surprised, as though he hadn’t expected Teddy to come back for him and Teddy’s gut twisted with guilt because that’s almost what had happened.

And in that instant the crowd surged forward. Loki lifted his arms up and Teddy caught his hand, beat his wings hard down, down, down –

*

"Down? Please?" 

"Not yet," Teddy said. They were high up and it was so cold Teddy couldn’t feel his face anymore. 

He'd been flying for maybe ten minutes. Maybe more. Every second hurt, but Teddy wouldn't let them down until he could no longer see the red glow of the village fires behind them. When he was sure he'd left that place behind.

"There might be other villages out here," Loki argued. "Other gangs of thugs out to gruesomely murder unsuspecting magic-users." 

"Then I'll keep going," Teddy argued right back. He knew that. He knew that there was no way he could be certain that when he stopped they'd be safe. If he could, he'd keep going; he'd fly until they reached the sea, until they came across mountains where they could hide high above the clouds. But even then he couldn't be sure. He wouldn't be able to keep going much longer anyway. Loki didn't reply and Teddy guessed he was probably just as tired. Just as worn thin. He hung on, both hands clinging to Teddy's but not struggling for better purchase or asking for Teddy to find a way to hold him more securely or more comfortably. Maybe he was just glad to have gotten out of there alive. Teddy knew he was.

But Billy still hadn't woken up, or moved, and Teddy worried. 

He asked Loki, "Is Billy okay?" 

"Would you be?" Loki said, kind of incredulous.

"Yeah, no. I mean, is he _going_ to be okay?" 

"Probably traumatized from being burnt as a witch at the stake, but he'll heal. Or I can teach him to heal himself. Or we can go find someone to heal him. And then he’ll be right as rain, but for a tad traumatized. But what's a little trauma if not character-building." 

_Withdrawn. Silent_ , Teddy thought. That's what trauma was to Billy.

"Why would anyone do that?" Teddy wanted to know. The villagers must have been able to see how _young_ they were. And even if Loki wasn't really, he still looked like a _kid_. He wondered if they'd have burned Loki next.

"They hate magic, I suppose," Loki said. "They wouldn’t be the first." 

Above them, thunder rumbled across the sky and Teddy felt the first spots of rain against his head. 

Sometimes he wondered if the whole universe were against them, if that’s what it really meant to be a Hero; for everyone and everything to hate you even when all you were trying to do was help. They could have had an easy life, relatively, him and Billy. They could have stayed at Billy’s parents and gone to school and then to college and they could have watched bad TV and read about superheroes in comics, on the internet. 

Except that wasn’t who they were. 

The first flash of lightening streaked across the sky, illuminating an endless forest landscape below them.

"Despite Billy’s affinity for lightening," Loki said, "he’s not currently sensate, and I would really recommend not being this high up about now." 

He had a point. 

By the time he’d found a place to land safely, the rain was coming down in torrents, soaking Teddy’s clothes, making flight difficult to control. He’d meant to come down slowly, carefully, sparing Loki and Billy a rough landing but in the end it was all he could do stop himself crashing fast enough to kill them all. 

Loki hit the ground hard, skidded away uncontrollably through thick mud. Teddy rolled as he came down, wrapping himself around Billy and trying to shift his wings away at the same time. It didn’t work so much, and his wings bent wrong as he struck land, twisting together painfully. 

When he came to a stop Teddy was breathing hard and starting to shiver from the cold, his muscles felt cramped, his skin scoured. But Billy was still held tight in his arms and still breathing and Teddy let himself lay there for a moment just reveling in that much. It was pretty much all he had to go on. 

Rain poured down on them, loud and distracting as it swept through the forest canopy. The ground under his back was soft and wet. Against his chest, Billy was starting to shiver now too. They had to find shelter. Had to wait out this storm because they were not surviving being burned alive just to freeze to death. That wasn’t even a little bit funny.

The lightening was becoming more and more frequent, the centre of the storm creeping closer. They weren’t even through the worst of it yet. 

Then, Loki’s head appeared above him, his teeth white in the dark as he smiled broadly. "Still alive, then? Excellent." 

Teddy had to blink the water out of his eyes, sight adjusting to the gloom, trying to work out if he was hallucinating. At some point between landing and now Loki had pulled his hood down and there was messy, sopping hair plastered to Loki’s face and Loki’s hair was something Teddy had never seen and only once theorized with Billy actually existed. His crown glinted gold, hung from his belt.

"Stop gawping," Loki said. "I was drowning in my own hood. It would have been a very ignoble death." 

Without his crown, with his face covered in mud, rain dripping from the ends of his hair, Loki looked like he really could have been a normal kid. Except no kid had eyes like his, or smiled the way he did; somewhere between infectious and disturbing. 

Loki rolled his eyes and sighed, leaning down to take hold of Billy’s shoulders and Teddy had the sudden urge to grip onto Billy more tightly.

"I’m not going to hurt him. I do want to get out of the rain. My dear brother might be a fan of storms, but I prefer to choose for myself when I shower." 

"Right," was just about the only thing Teddy could think to say. This time when Loki leaned down Teddy let him help move Billy so he could stand. It wasn’t as easy as it should have been, Teddy’s wings unbalancing him, heavy and useless against his back. He didn’t have the energy to get rid of them so he’d just have to let them drag in the mud for now. He couldn’t really feel them anyway anymore. 

"You’re going to have to carry him," Loki said, kneeling beside Billy. He looked Teddy up and down dubiously. 

"I can do it." 

Still kneeling in the mud, Loki watched as Teddy picked Billy up, locking his knees so he wouldn’t collapse and embarrass himself. Or worse; drop Billy. 

God, he was exhausted. 

"You’re going to have to lead the way," Teddy said expectantly, and this time he watched as Loki struggled to his feet, looking like he’d rather be anywhere else, doing anything else, than this. 

Teddy could relate. 

"Shelter, then," Loki said, and cupped his hands together like he was trying to catch the rain, concentrated on them.

"Any time now would be good, Loki." Teddy’s legs weren’t exactly stable. It was impossible to know how far he could keep going.

"Yes, yes," Loki snapped impatiently. "This isn’t as easy- isn’t exactly easy." 

A soft green light grew in the space between Loki’s hands, casting its strange light across Loki’s face, accentuating the tired bruises under his eyes. 

In his arms, Billy stirred and Teddy pulled him closer, shaking him slightly.

"Billy. Hey. Wake up." 

Maybe it was selfish, because right now Billy was probably better off passed out, but Teddy wanted to see his eyes and hear him speak to _know_ he was okay. Mostly okay.

Loki’s green light expanded around them and Billy’s eyes opened, blinking slowly. 

"Hey," Teddy smiled. "Hey, Billy." 

Billy’s eyes focused on him and he smiled back, and just for a second everything was okay. But then the smile slipped away and there was pain and fear and Billy started to struggle, panic obvious in the way he tried to push weakly at Teddy’s arm.

"Where- They were- It- _Teddy_." His voice was raw, breaking.

"It’s okay," Teddy tried to soothe him. "We’re safe now. We got away." 

_I won’t let them hurt you anymore_ , Teddy wanted to say, but didn’t want to make any more promises he wasn’t sure he could keep.

The assurances must have helped, or maybe he was just too tired to fight, because Billy stopped struggling, turned his face into the crook of Teddy’s arm. The tension was still there, the pain, the shivering, but if Teddy could make it all just a little bit better then it was enough.

"This way," Loki said, and Teddy didn’t question it, just followed and held on to Billy and tried not to think.

*

Thinking was hard. 

Every single thought slipped away like water over smooth rock. There were images; of linoleum and lightning and none of it made sense except the weight and warmth of Billy beside him. There was the soft murmur of Billy’s voice and Teddy wondered if he was on the internet again, arguing with some asshole over the merit of Star Wars. Teddy wondered what time it was. It felt late. It was cold, despite Billy’s warmth. There was another voice, close-by, and Teddy forced himself to listen, in case he needed to intervene before Billy was banned from yet another forum.

"–it won’t hurt, much," the voice said, and Teddy frowned. "It’ll work though. Probably." 

"I don’t feel like I have enough of anything left," Billy said softly. Not softly. Weakly. Like that time he’d caught the flu and been laid up for a week, not strong enough to even get out of bed.

"Oh come on, Billy," the other voice said, and Teddy realized he recognized it. "Your Teddy carried you here with broken wings after he’d heroically flown us all to safety after he’d fought his way through hundreds of murderous foes. You can do it, for him, I’m certain." 

He’d done that? And then Teddy remembered that yes, yeah, he’d done all that and this was Loki and-

"Do what?" Teddy demanded to know. 

He opened his eyes and there was definitely something suspicious about the way they both looked at Teddy and then at each other.

"A way out of here," Loki answered. 

Here being a rock overhang beside a swollen river that had been the best Loki’s magic had been able to find. It was only marginally drier than standing outside in the storm.

It was still raining, but less like a torrent now. It was still dark too, but there was a deep blueness to the sky that suggested sunrise wasn’t so far off. Sunrise, and with it the fear that they’d be hunted down again. Looking at them, pale and sopping wet and huddled together there was no way they’d be able to escape a second time. They’d wrapped Billy’s feet in Teddy’s jacket and Teddy wasn’t thinking about the red and blackened skin he’d seen there, or that Billy assured him he couldn’t even feel them anymore so it was okay. 

"Yes?" Teddy asked, eyes narrowed.

"We’re already- hm- linked," Loki said, and Billy nodded in agreement. 

"Still not crazy," he assured Teddy thoughtfully. "Still weird though." 

"Yes, thank you. So. I can show Billy a spell to get out of this dimension." 

"And how to find the others," Billy added.

"They might be in this one," Teddy frowned.

Billy shook his head. "They’re not. We checked." 

"And you couldn’t have done this before?" Teddy asked, and that was when Loki and Billy did the looking at each other thing again.

"There was never the- uh- chance." Billy shrugged. 

"And?" Teddy prompted.

"Billy will just have to see a little more of my mind than I’d prefer. It’s only a slight issue," Loki replied.

Teddy did not like the sound of this at all, and beside him Billy was fidgeting nervously. "Exactly how much?" 

"This isn’t exactly fun for me, either," Loki scowled.

" _How much_?" 

"Most," Loki admitted. "It’s not meant for humans. Or, well. Anyone." 

Teddy almost believed the regretful look on Loki’s face. 

"It’s not like we have any other ideas." Billy waved his hands towards his feet. " I’m not going anywhere." 

"I’ll carry you," Teddy argued.

"And go where?" Loki laughed coldly. "We have to get out of this dimension. And I can assure you, the longer Billy and I are joined in this way the more difficult it will be to _undo_." 

There had to be another way. Teddy put his head in his hands, trying to think, trying to remember every situation they’d ever been in and how they’d gotten out of it. But then, the team had always been there. There was always the promise of rescue. But there was no assurance the others would ever find them. No assurance they’d get here in time. And they were all so _tired_.

He turned to look at Billy, reached out to take his hand; too cold.

"You’re okay with this?" 

"Not so much," Billy smiled wryly. "I don’t know what this is gonna do to me. But there’s nothing else." 

Nothing else but to trust Loki and when did that ever end well?

But he could trust Billy. 

He leaned in and kissed Billy, long and hard and with all the desperation and need and fear he had because he needed Billy to _know_. He needed Billy to take that with him and make sure he came back _Billy_. 

Gently, Billy laid his fingers on Teddy’s cheek and their eyes met and Billy smiled in understanding.

"Gah. Did you have to do that? I thought we had an agreement," Loki protested. 

"I had to do that, yes," Teddy said, and hated that he had to draw away.

It was dawn now; all red like fire on the horizon and Teddy hated the sight of it. The rain was letting up, and in their refuge Loki reached his hands out to Billy’s temples, and Billy reached back.

There was a long time when nothing happened and all Teddy could do was sit and wait and watch Billy and Loki do nothing at all. It was better than watching the forest, or trying to imagine what they’d do if this didn’t work. 

Billy’s hand still held on to Teddy’s and it was the only thing that made the waiting, the silence, bearable. 

Then, in an instant they were –

*

Strung between worlds, submerged into silence and, Teddy thought, at least it wasn’t raining here. 

His mother had loved the rain. She’d taken him to play in puddles as a child, wrapped up in boots and rain jacket and Teddy had splashed in the water and laughed. His mother had laughed too.

Billy had never liked the rain; it was too cold, he’d always said. But he’d smiled that night when, halfway between the diner they’d eaten at and Teddy’s place they’d gotten caught out in the rain and they’d tried to take refuge in a doorway and Teddy had kissed Billy for the first time. 

He’d been laid bare that time too. 

Teddy would never admit it to anyone ever, but that night he’d been terrified. He’d never done anything so seriously petrifying in his entire life. It seemed ridiculous now to think that once, kissing Billy had been the hardest thing he’d ever done.

Now the hardest thing was watching Billy in pain. The hardest thing was being helpless to stop it.

The hardest thing was making sure he never let Billy go.

*

They’d tried to separate them, at first. But Teddy had been stubborn and held on to Billy’s hand like he’d die if he let it go. In the end, Kate had secreted them all away in one of her penthouse apartments, wrapped in soft, white cotton sheets. Loki was there with them too, curled up under his own covers on the other side of the room with only his dark hair showing. 

Predictably, Kate had loved the hair and had tried ruffling it, only to be growled at irritably. She’d smiled at Loki, weirdly affectionate. Teddy thought that had just made Loki even more pissed.

But, after everything, Teddy didn’t mind him sharing the room with them. 

"I can’t feel him any more," Loki had said, only half-awake, and that was something.

It was three days before Billy woke up.

To be fair, Teddy had been asleep for most of that himself, finally letting himself heal. Rediscovering the joy of food and drink and warmth when he was awake.

There were bad dreams where Billy clawed at the sheets and ground his teeth and sweated. All Teddy could do was tell him it was okay, that they were safe, and this time he could promise it. He held Billy and petted his hair and pretended he didn’t notice the way Loki watched them.

When Billy’s eyes blinked open, slow and bleary, Teddy suddenly felt hot and cold all over, maybe kind of slightly panicking because this was it. This was the truth, unchangeable once he knew for sure.

He propped himself up more fully against the pillows, watched Billy’s eyes and expression, watched his dark eyelashes. 

"Billy?" he asked quietly.

A long pause, and Teddy was not holding his breath; he was breathing perfectly normally because everything was going to be fine. Billy was going to be fine. His feet and his legs were healing and his face was finally starting to take on more colour than the white sheets. 

"Ted-" 

Enough for this; Teddy closed the space between them, pressing his lips tentatively to Billy’s; a question.

And Billy replied by reaching up to grab at Teddy’s t-shirt and pulling him down and then there was just the taste of Billy and his tongue and the warmth of his mouth. Teddy stroked a palm across Billy’s cheek, curved his hand around his neck, threaded his fingers through Billy’s hair and Billy just held on and kissed him back, smiling. This was the Billy that Teddy knew.

When they broke apart Teddy stayed close, kissed Billy’s cheek, and Billy’s hand finally let go of its grip on Teddy, falling back to his chest heavily.

"Man, I’m tired." Billy grinned, and Teddy grinned back.

From the other side of the room, Loki complained loudly, "We had an _agreement_ ," but he turned away from them, burrowing even further into his cocoon of blankets, muttering familiar curses.

"Hey," Billy said quietly, close to Teddy’s ear. "I think I’m me." 

Teddy nodded. "I think you are," and leaned in to kiss Billy again, just to be sure.

END


End file.
